The Scrumper Chose Me...

By Anonymous · Oct. 18, 1999

RUMPER CHOSE ME...
I first saw pictures of the lip frenum piercing (also known as smiley or scrumper) on BMEzine. My first impression was that it was an unusual piercing. I didn't really think much of it but the idea had lodged itself in my subconscious. Only a few months later I felt an overwhelming urge, uncontrollable need to have the piercing done, it dominated my thoughts. I had always found people with an over-developed lip frenum (where a flap of skin hangs or catches over the teeth and below the upper lip) extremely erotic. Something to do with an urban myth I had grown up with that people whose top lips were larger than the lower lip were somehow deemed very highly sexed. It was less than two weeks since the moment I decided to have the piercing that I actually got it done.
And now that I have one, I feel like it has always been there, as though, before the piercing, there was always something missing from my mouth.
Gary, our professional piercer friend, Mike (my boyfriend) and I had spent another wild Saturday night at the Club Rub in central London. We were wasted and the music in the club was getting louder, which is a good indication that they are trying to thin out the crowd before closing.
We headed back to base, Gary's apartment in South London, in the early hours to continue the drinking, mayhem and madness with some other friends of Gary's. I had told Gary I wanted a scrumper and he offered to do it for me there.
He set out the equipment on a paper towel on the floor beside him, pre-sterilised BCR (1.2mm, 7mm internal diameter), cannular needle, ring openers and ring closers. No clamp or mark-up was used, which requires an even greater degree of skill and precision piercing.
I swilled neat scotch whisky (no listerine in the house) around my mouth, pushing the burning liquid up between the upper lip and gums. I lay back on the floor with my legs resting up on the sofa, he placed a pillow behind my head and we were ready to start. Gary sat on one side of me and Mike sat on the other. They both put on latex gloves. Mike peeled back the upper lip and held it in place to expose the lip frenum, that soft, delicate pink flap of tissue between the gums and the top of the upper lip.
I didn't feel the piercing. I was acutely aware of the needle being inserted but there was no pain, no real sensation until, as with most of the piercings I have had, the 'kick', that rush of adrenalin and endorphins raced through my body. I felt elated.
Gary inserted a small ring and the next ten minutes was spent trying to insert the ball closure with the aid of circlip pliers (ring openers). The task was somewhat impeded by our state of inebbriation and the altered reality which now encompassed the room. There was some discomfort due to the pulling of the ring with the circlips, but I found it quite enjoyable having my lip tugged and teased while Gary and Mike attempted to attach a ball closure to a very small ring on a very fiddly piercing. I looked up between all the hands and fingers which were held over my head to look at Gary's face, a picture of intense concentration. When the ball was finally secured, the piercing was done. The whole procedure could not have taken more than fifteen minutes, however all sense of time was lost due to the intensity of the moment. I tasted a small amount of blood which I washed away with another drop of scotch.
I had the sensation of a small piece of food being stuck between the gums which lasted only a short while. I am hardly aware of the piercing now. I feel it slip along my gums when I smile, but the rest of the time the piercing isn't really noticeable.
The procedure complete, I feel happy and complete. My scrumper piercing!
The FAQs on the scrumper piercing state that it heals quickly (initial healing time of two weeks). But migrates within one month to up to one year. The piercing falls out painlessly and unproblematically with little or no scarring; and can be re-pierced successfully following a full migration or removal of the old piercing. General oral piercing aftercare recommended; diluted mouthwash following all oral contact and rinse regularly with saline or saltwater solution.
Note:
This is one piercing I certainly do not recommend be attempted by anyone other than a professional piercer. It is a diffcult and fiddly piercing which requires two able bodies (or two sets of hands), a lot of knowledge, precision and deftness. Not everyone is suitable to have this piercing,, your professional piercer will be able to advise you. Oh! and scotch is not the usual recommended product to disinfect and prepare an area for an oral piercing!

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submitted by: Anonymouson: 18 Oct. 1999in
Lip Piercing

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Artist: Gary+ScottStudio: BodyworksLocation: Croydon

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